Have you ever found yourself staring down a disorganized mess of files on your computer with no rhyme or reason? The uncertainty can send you into a state of paralysis, unaware of your next step to take. That’s where Stacks comes in! Our file management best practices include tips and advice to help manage your entire digital asset library.
When you’re working with digital content, whether it’s documents, images, audio, or video, you’re constantly interacting with different file types. Each file format is designed with a specific purpose in mind, balancing factors like quality, file size, compatibility, and functionality. From the commonly known PDF and JPEG to more specialized formats like RAW or SVG, understanding these distinctions can make a significant difference in how efficiently you create, share, organize, and store your files.
In this post, we’ll discuss several common approaches and tactics for managing different files. Continue reading to learn our best practices for managing different file types and formats!
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Best Practices for Managing Different Files
Having an understanding of the core differences between the common file types found within most DAM libraries, we can take a look at the best practices for managing each type of file.
Here are some essential tips on how to manage different file formats:
- Group files together based on use and/or file type
- Ensure assets are available to the right teams (and not the wrong ones)
- Know whether you need to use software-specific file types
- Only add relevant assets to DAM system
- Create standards for files used on web, social media, and other channels
1. Group Files Together Based on Use and/or File Type
Many of the file types described above were created for a specific purpose. They solve a problem by organizing digital assets in a particular way to generate specific results. This means that certain types of assets are ideal for some purposes, while others may be totally ineffective or not as well-suited.
Within your folder structure, grouping assets together by the way they're used generates value for your organization. This means that assets used on your website should be grouped, as should those used for marketing purposes, print purposes, etc.
If your organization uses the same asset in the same file type for many purposes, which is highly likely, it’s important to minimize the number of duplicates in your DAM system while also maintaining order and understanding.
2. Ensure Assets are Available to the Right Teams (and Not the Wrong Ones)
Grouping assets together based on their purposes makes it much easier to apply permissions to them. Permissions ensure that someone can’t download the wrong type of file and use it on a channel that doesn’t support that file type.
It also prevents the use of an asset that won’t perform very well on a particular channel due to its sizing or resolution requirements.
3. Know Whether You Need to Use Software-Specific File Types
Many of the file types listed above are universal or nearly universal. This means they can be supported, viewed, manipulated, and used on almost any up-to-date operating system available. Some of the file types, however, are created specifically for operating systems like Mac or Microsoft PC.
These include MOV (Apple), WAV (PC), and FLV (not compatible with some mobile devices) files. It also includes Microsoft Office or MacOS-generated files like PowerPoint presentations (PPTX), Excel spreadsheets (XLSX), Keynote presentations (KEY), and Word documents (DOCX).
4. Only Add Relevant Assets to the DAM System
Along with organizing assets correctly, applying permissions to them, and ascertaining the specific kinds of files your teams must use across different types of software, regularly auditing the kinds of assets that currently exist in your DAM system and are being uploaded to it ensures disaster doesn’t strike.
For example, uploading TIFF files to your system will clutter the system up and waste both time and storage space.
5. Create Standards for Files Used on Web, Social Media, and Other Channels
Another important principle to keep in mind is that as omnichannel marketing and content distribution grow, your organization needs clear standards as to what kinds of content are produced in what formats.
Assets for use on social media can't be SVGs, for example, as most social media platforms don't support this format. With this in mind, content creators should be aware that their updated logo needs to be generated as both an SVG and a PNG for use on social media, along with any future logos. Product images, specifically silo shots, could be produced as PNGs so that the background can be removed and the resolution doesn’t suffer.
No matter what your team’s needs are, your file standards should be clearly documented and easy to understand for your creative team, especially if they're the ones uploading content to the DAM system. If you have an approval process in place, approvers should be privy to these guidelines as well.
Conclusion
If your DAM system is a mess and needs reorganization, or you have questions about managing file formats not listed in this article, contact Stacks! We work with many types of teams at a wide variety of brands using assets in all kinds of creative ways.
We’d be happy to advise you on what kinds of assets should live in your DAM library, as well as assist in making that plan a reality.
